CHAPTER TWO

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny sat dutifully at the Griffindor table, listening to Professor Dumbledore's long, rambling speech. For politeness only, Harry watched the headmaster as his speech continually digressed, and he couldn't help but feel the tingle and warmth of Ron's shoulder next to him. He glanced at Ron's face. Ron was staring agead, seemingly trying as hard to concentrate as Harry was. But Harry couldn't do it anymore. Not when there were things--people--he cared so much about right next to him.

A bit shyly, he slid his hand onto Ron's knee. Ron, immediately tensed up, looking both shocked and scared. What was Harry doing? Static electricity seemed to zing through the air, and the two boys couldn't keep their eyes off each other. In the far distance they could hear Dumbledore's voice, but it seemed to them to be a memory, an echo. It didn't affect their moment. Ron put one hand on top of Harry's, and lifted the other to touch his face. God, his face was soft. He watched Harry's lips and licked his own, and began to draw closer slowly, timidly, but with a quiet eagerness.

Shakingly, at the same moment, they pressed their lips together, finally giving in to the desire that had built up between them in their years of friendship. Neither ever wanted it to stop, how perfect it was. Harry brought his hand to Ron's neck and pulled himself even closer in their passionate embrace.

Hermione snatched Harry's arm tightly and pulled him away. "What the fuck are you doing?" she screamed. "What, so you guys are together now, huh?"

The entire toom froze and stared at the three teenager, Ron's and Harry's faces flushed and Hermione's thinly tweezed eyebrows drawn together furiously. Many people gaped, but it was Malfoy who began to laugh.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! That's a good one, Granger!" Seeing her anger now directed at him, he hesitated. "Uh... I mean, Hermione. Sounds like something I would say!" He then launched into another burst of laughter, clutching his stomach painedly.

Everyone stared at him for a moment, then Crabbe and Goyle and some other Slytherins began to laugh nervously as well. Seamus and Dean looked at each other before they started to laugh, and Nevilled, who was thoroughly confused, laughed as though he knew exactly what was so funny. Soon the whole room burst into laughter, even old Dumbledore laughing shakily. The only people who weren't laughing were Cho, who looked as though she was trying very hard not to cry, and Hermione, who was still looking thoroughly pissed off.

When the laughter died down, Dumbledore tried to once again claim the attention of the students. "Yes, that was quite amusing, Hermione. But I'd appreciate slightly cleaner language... After all, our first years have rather delicate ears. Now that we've all had a good laugh, I think I'll leave my announcements for later. You all get settled in now!" He said hoarsely, dismissing them with a wave of his wand and accidentally setting a napkin on fire.

The students filed out hurriedly, some still glancing strangely at Harry and Ron as they left. Cho's eyes spilled over with tears as she ran out without looking back. Hermione, in contrast, grabbed Harry's arm and dragged him away from Ron.

"Where are you taking me?" Harry asked hesitantly, looking wistfully over his shoulder.

Hermione wouldn't face him; she continued pulling him along as they entered the hallway. She opened the door to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom and slammed Harry against the wall harshly.

"What? Moaning Myrtle--" Harry gasped awkwardly.

"She won't be here for at least an hour or two. I told her that her thighs were looking particularly fat," she snapped. Hermione shoved his shoulders against the wall and pressed her hips against his firmly. "What was that in there? What do you think you're doing?" she demanded, breath hot on his face.

Harry gulped. "Er... It was nothing," he choked out. "Me and Ron got bored..."

"So you decided to make out in the middle of Dumbledore's spreech?" she shouted. "Tell me," she continued, lowering her voice. "Do you feel anything right now?" Her hand hand moved up his thigh slowly. "Do you? Are you into guys or what? Just tell me!"

Without waiting for an answer, Hermione kissed him fiercely, her tongue slipping into his mouth. Harry was surprised and didn't know how to respond. He had never thought of Hermione like that, and had only recently considered Ron in that way. The only person he had kissed before today, in face, was Cho.

He pushed away, a bit afraid. "What are you doing?" he mumbled.

"I'm kissing you! Don't you want me to? Don't you want me?" Hermione asked, beginning to get desperate.

"N-not like that," Harry told her. "You're my friend."

She leaned her hips away from him and stared at him coldly. "So what Ron until tonight," she spat bitterly, ice spilling with every syllable.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, beginning to pull away.

Hermione stopped him by reaching her hand onto his shoulder. "Are you... sure about this?" she asked seductively, tugging her skirt upwards.

Harry nodded, afraid.

Her face darkened and she slapped him across the face. The sound resounded through the small bathroom, echoing.

"Fine," she spat and stormed away.

"I don't think she took it very well," Harry muttered as he re-entered the Great Hall.

Ron, who had been waiting and hoping that Harry would come back, brightened at the sound of his voice. "Harry," he gasped, worried. "What happened?"

Harry shook his head. "Pretty much, Hermione was pissed and came on to me in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom," he blurted out. "She knows about us, and probably a lot of people here do too." He looked concerned for a moment. "If people ask, what should we tell them?"

"Um..." Ron stuttered. "We should... uh... tell them the truth I guess. They'll find out eventually."

"What if I'm scared, you know, of what people... will say?"

Ron frowned. "Who cares? It's who we are. You never cared what people thought before..."

"Yeah, well, I care about this!" Harry snapped. He was getting a bit annoyed with Ron now. Couldn't he understand that this issue was bigger than them? "I mean it's really personal; not everyone needs to know."

"What, are you ashamed?" Ron asked exasperatedly.

What? Why would he think that? "No, of course--"

Ron snorted. "Then why? Why then, if you're not ashamed?"

Harry thought about this, but couldn't honestly respond. The truth was, he wasn't altogether sure himself. He just wasn't ready to tell anyone when he'd just discovered his true feelings himself. It was all happening too fast.

"Fine! So you don't want to be seen with me or something?" Ron yelled. "At least I can admit my feelings for you!"

Harry was getting more irritated by the minute; he couldn't bear listening to Ron scream at him anymore. "You know, if you could stop being so insecure--"

"Insecure? You think I'm insecure?" Ron puffed up. "You know what? I don't need to deal with this right now, okay? I'll talk to you about this later. For now... I don't know... just pretend that nothing is going on with us at all! That's how you want it anyway!" He turned on his heels and fled the hall in a run.

Harry slumped into a chair and watched as a couple of unrecognizable house elfs brought dishes into the Hogwarts kitchen. What a great start to his sixth year! He'd somehow managed to alienate his two best friends and he hadn't even been there a day. What could happen next? How about all his hair falls out? Yes, that would be the only way the fates would have it. It would be a perfect end to a miserable day.

Nearly Headless Nick began walking towards him, but Harry wouldn't allow it. "Leave me alone, Nick!" he called, depressed. "I just want to be alone," he finished to himself.

Ginny, try as though she might, couldn't concentrate on unpacking for the life of her. Her mind was far, far away at the moment, And, as terrible as it was for her to admit even to herself, it was in the Slytherin House, with a boy who her family hated more than anyone except Voldemort himself. She kept replaying their moments together in her mind. This time she focused on the pout of of his lips when he talked, the steel glint of gray in his eye that for once softened in her presence. That one time, that one moment, change everything between them. She could never again look at him the way she did before.

Glancing down at a framed picture of her family in Egypt, Ginny was once again aware that thinking of Draco Malfoy like that was a crime worse than treason to the rest of her family. But she couldn't help it. The way they'd separated had been so terrible, and so awkward, and she worried that he thought she hated him or something. Because she didn't hate him, far from it. In fact, more than anything, she wanted to be alone with him again.

The door slammed against the dorm wall, breaking Grinny from her thoughts. Hermione stood, face bright red, hair all over the place, skirt hiked up almost all the way up her thigh, looking frighteningly angry.

"Are you okay?" Ginny asked fearfully.

Hermione nodded, fishing a pack of cigarettes out of her bag. "You'll never guess what's going on with Harry and Ron," she sneered, sticking a cigarette in her mouth. "Ya want one?" she offered.

"Uh... no thanks." Ginny watched Hermione light the cigarette and take a long pull. "Well, what is it?" she asked.

Ginny hadn't seen exactly what happened to the best friends at the meeting, but she knew something had happened, something big, and she was dying to know.

"Hold on, I'm still on a sexual buzz. I did Seamus in the dungeon closet. God, he's good," Hermione added, blowing a puff of smoke through the room. "Anyway, I'm pretty much positive that Harry and Ron are... shall we say... together."

Ginny wrinkled her nose, unsure if she'd heard the girl right. "Together together?"

"As in, making out in the middle of Dumbledore's speech together," Hermione snorted bluntly. "It's too bad though. Harry looked like a great kisser."

Ginny felt a tinge of jealousy there. After all, she'd had a crush on Harry for three crucial years of her life. She was over him now though. "So that's why they looked so flushed?" she pondered. "Well, I guess it kind of makes sense. Ron never was very interested in girls."

"Yeah, Harry neither," Hermione spat, closing her eyes and deeply inhaling the cigarette.

Ginny panicked when she heard footsteps in the hallway. "Can you put that thing out please? That could be McGonagall!" she whispered.

"Don't worry about it. She always visits the boys' dorms every night of the week, the nasty old pervert," she laughed.

"No way McGonagall would--"

"Oh yes she would!" Hermione interrupted. "Why do you think that boys in class half as good as me got the same marks?"

Ginny shrugged, not feeling like going on where this conversation was headed. "I dunno." She waited a moment before continuing. "Are you... okay... with Harry and Ron being--?"

"Fine," Hermione snapped, taking one last draw from her cigarette and expelling it. "I'm going back to the boys dorm to see if any if my boys need any favors," she said smoothly, tossing the cigarette butt out the open window. "See ya!" She headed out the door, not bothering to fix up her disheveled hair.

Once again, Ginny was left with her thoughts and her guilt. If only the one person she wanted to be with most wasn't everything she was supposed to hate. She gazed out the window wistfully.

Her beautiful emerald eyes searched the night sky aimlessly, and Draco wished he could be the object of their aim. The way the nearly full moon cast shadows onto her face was simply magical. She couldn't possibly know that he was twenty feet below, hoping that she would glance at him if just for a second. A glace was all he needed to make this worth his time.

Finally, growing impatient with his wait, Draco picked up a stone and threw it at Ginny Weasley's window. The first missed by an embarrassingly large distance. He looked around to make sure no one was watching before throwing another. This one struck it with a loud thwack and Ginny seemed to be snatched away from her dreaming.

Her eyes wandered over the courtyard until they met his. To his surprise and immense relief, she seemed pleased and waved to him. Draco grinned and tried to fix his hair self-consciously. He gestured for her to meet him and she nodded eagerly and rushed away from the window.

Waiting for her arrival seemed to take an eternity, but he was willing to wait simply because it was her he was waiting for. When she appeared at the door and tiptoed out to meet him, he couldn't help but break out into a huge smile.

"Hi," he whispered, trying to mask his enthusiasm.

Ginny blushed and looked at the ground. "Hi," she whispered back. "I really shouldn't be out here." Her eyes were becoming more and more panicked. "What if we're caught?"

Draco reached out and touched her hand, and saw her tense immediately. He let go quickly. "It--It's fine," he stuttered nervously. "We're just talking."

"Yeah, we're just talking," she agreed. "But why? What is going on? We never wanted to talk before today..."

He watched her beautiful, nervous expression as she looked to make sure no one was watching them and couldn't help admiring her. "You look so gorgeous, Ginny," he murmured, feeling himself drawn to her.

She backed away. "So do you," she said shyly. Thinking about what had happened earlier, she said, "I thought a lot about the train today, and you should know I don't hate you."

"You don't?"

Ginny laughed anxiously. "Why else would I be here?" she asked exaggeratedly.

Draco shrugged. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense," he responded, embarrassed. "I'm glad you're here though."

She smiled. "Me too," she whispered. Slowly she walked to him. Tension filled the air. She raised her shaky arms and put them around his neck tentatively. Surprise registered with Draco, but a good kind. He leaned down and touched his lips to hers softly.

The tingling sensation on his lips was a surprise to him. He'd kissed lots of girls, especially over the past summer, but something was definitely different about kissing Ginny. His normal confidence was failing to stay with him at the moment. He felt butterflies in his stomach, and was enjoying the kiss far more than he knew he should be. Finally, he broke away, grinning.

"Wow," he said huskily.

Ginny began to back away again, looking fearful. Draco, concerned, followed her. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"No, no, I'm not," she said. "That shouldn't have happened! I don't know what came over me... I'll just leave..." She turned and took a few steps towards her dorm.

"Why can't we be together?" he called after her.

Ginny stopped for a moment. "It would be a disgrace to my family," she said slowly before walking away.

It took Draco a moment to realize that it would be a disgrace to his as well. But somehow that didn't matter to him like it once had.

Dumbledore clinked a golden knife on his crystal wine goblet to silence the roar of chatter in the Great Hall, then cleared his throat innocently when the glass broke. "I have an announcement to make," he called out in his usual craggly tone. There were moans and groans from around the room. Even some of the teachers rolled their eyes. In his senility, the once-great wizard now had a tendency to ramble on for a good half an hour on topic entirely unrelated to the matter at hand. "Tonight, I would like to introduce your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Coming all the way from the states to teach all of you, Professor Ginger Snaps!"

The large double doors were thrown open and their new professor was revealed. An unanimous gasp filled the room. A woman... maybe?... stood with one hip jutted way out, hand resting lazily upon it. Her eyes were black as sin, with no white whatsoever, and her fingers were extremely long and bony. Her body itself, aside from the overly large breasts, was very masculine, but her new outfit told a different story. A small red sequin dress with matching pumps and so much gawdy jewelry that it looked as though she'd knocked over a pawn shop. A red feather boa was wrapped around her neck, clashing horribly with the mass of red puffy hair (so obviously a wig) that sat atop her head.

"Hi y'all," she said in a voice that sounded very much like a man trying to impersonate a woman with a southern twang.

"Hello, Professor Snaps," the entire school echoed back. She waggled three fingers suggestively at everyone, then strutted her way down the lane to the head table. Harry clutched his forehead as pain shot through his scar. Hermione glanced briefly at her friend before returning her gaze to the new figure in the room. She didn't need to use her overly large brain to figure out the so-called woman in front of her was indeed a man. The hairy legs were indication enough.

The "woman" strut by their tables in an overly feminine gait, giggling hoarsely. At the teacher table, Dumbledore was holding an empty chair for her, waggling his eyebrows suggestively, a contented smile on his craggly gace. "Here, here, sit next to me please," the old man grunted.

Professor Snaps let out a laugh-snort and covered her face with her bony hand as if deeply surprised. She made her way to the empty seat, apparently totally unaware of the students' giggle at the sight of her fuzzy black-haired armpits. She sat next to Dumbledore and smiled wickedly at the students.

"Hello, my young ones," he deep, raspy voice rang out. "I am so excited to be teaching you Defense Against the Dark Arts this year!" A polite applause followed. "Thank you, thank you! Oh, you're too kind!" she cried melodramatically, as if she'd just been crowned Miss America. "I have fifth and sixth years from Hufflepuff and Griffindor today and it will be my pleasure to meet you all!" She sat down, clearly done speaking. Harry's scar pain began to dull.

The whole hall was silent for a few painful seconds until McGonagall cleared her throat and clapped her hands. "Excuse Professor Dumbledore, students. He seems to have forgotten to tell you to commence with breakfast," she said. Dumbledore looked up at her confusedly. After a couple more seconds of silence, McGonagall stared at the students in disbelief. "Well, start then! Commence!" she said.

The hall immediately erupted into a roar of sound as every student turned to the next to talk about the new DADA professor. They had seen many strange folk come through the school at one time or another, but for some reason, none seemed as strange as this Professor Ginger Snaps. Neville turned to Harry.

"How d'ya reckon her class will be?" he asked apprehensively. "I hope we only use standard spells," he added, shuddering in dark remembrances.

Harry looked at Neville's pale, round face and felt something like pity. "It'll be fine, I'm sure," he reassured him, putting a hand on his shoulder. But he quickly withdrew it, feeling awkward. Since what had happened between him and Ron, Harry was increasingly careful not to send anyone the wrong signals. The only problem was, he hadn't realized how often he touched people every day. In the hallways, during classes, even just hanging out with his friends in the dorms, he had always been in contact with others. And the worst part was, Ron could hardly bring himself to look at Harry. He'd fled early in the morning to avoid facing him.

Harry glanced over a few seats at where Ron was sitting. Their eyes met for a moment, but Ron's quickly darted away. This was terrible. Hoping for at least some kind of connection with Hermione, he looked over at her to see she was already glaring him down. She too looked away, this time whispering something in a Hufflepuff boy's ear behind her. He turned bright red and grinned. She took his hand and pulled the boy away, casting a spiteful grin over her shoulder at Harry.

Harry sighed. Well, at least it couldn't get any worse.

After breakfast, Snape swaggered up to Profesor Snaps and sat beside her. She was staring in her compact mirror, powdering her nose, but she looked up and grinned with recognition when she saw him, her beady black eyes gleaming. "Professor Snape," she smiled, her man's voice cracking slightly.

Snape took in her broad shouldered frame, hairy legs, and contorted face. She certainly wasn't attractive woman, but that didn't make much of a difference to him in his completely high out of his mind state. A lady was a lady. "That's what they call me," he murmured, slurring his words.

"I'm glad to finally meet you. I've heard so much about you," she responded, her voice taking on a slightly more ominous tone.

His hand crept onto her bony knee, and he heard her gasp of surprise. "Oh, me too," he lied. "I don't have a class for another three hours. How about you and me go to the Potions dungeon and do a little... experimentation?" he snarled in what he hoped was a seductive voice.

She grimaced and sent a lightning bolt to his stomach. "I'm sorry, but I have a class in a half hour and I must prepare," she growled, her voice dropping an octave. Then, clearing her throat and speaking significantly higher in her range, she said, "I have to go! Ta ta!"

Snape curled up in the fetal position as shocks of electricity jolted his stomach. A few minutes later, he rose to his feet painstakingly. She was a fireball, that one. He had to keep his eye out for her. It was then that he realized her spell had completely taken away his high. He threw his hands up in the air, just now getting that Professor Snaps must have added an incantation for sobriety under her spell. "Damn that woman!" he screamed, rushing to his Potions dungeon. Luckily, he knew the exact concoction that could take away his sober streak in seconds flat.

Ginny glanced across the classroom and saw him. God, she regretted turning him down last night. His robes were so befitting of his muscular shoulders and chest, and his handsome face lit up as he managed to transfigure a pillow. She knew she was staring, but she couldn't help it. He just seemed so sweet... at least for the moment.

Draco let out a snort of laughter at something Goyle had said. What could Goyle have said that was so funny?

"Yeah, Mudblood Granger sure has gotten whory over the summer," she overheard him saying. "I wouldn't be surprised if she prepositioned me the next time she sees me!" he laughed.

Ah, so that was what he found so amusing. At least it did have some truth to it. Hermione had changed an incredible amount over the summer, and the most obvious change was her interest in the opposite gender as a sex toy. Ginny had spotted her heading to Myrtle's bathroom with Kent Andrews during breakfast, and when Hermione showed up for Transfiguration ten minutes late her robes looked like they had just been thrown on and her normally bushy hair was rubbed all over the place.

Ginny glanced at Hermione, who was sitting right next to her. Hermione had tensed significantly since she had entered the class and was glaring at Malfoy piercingly. Obviously his words had affected her, but she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing he'd hurt her. She wouldn't even cover the miles of leg that her loosely hung robe revealed when she sat down.

Ginny knew she should hate Draco. She should... It wasn't right of her to want him like she did. But the longer she looked at him she came to realize that she couldn't hate him. Because when she looked at him she saw a good person, even if he was a little rough around the edges, even if no one could see it but her. She was sure she had feelings for him now. She even thought she maybe...

HIs eyes met hers. Their piercing gray began to soften, became the gray cloud color on a rainy day. His perfectly shaped lips seemed to be calling her, begging her to kiss them again, and to her disgust, she found she actually wanted to. Badly. But no. She had to end this now. Reluctantly she tore her eyes away.

Ripping out a piece of parchment, she began to write a note to him. Everything came out wrong even though she overanalyzed every world. Finally she decided it was as good as it was going to get.

But how could she get it to him without her friends or his noticing the change between them?

As they were dismissed, she indicated to Draco to wait for her. "Wha--?" Crabbe began, but Draco just shook his head. "Meet me in five minutes outside of Herbology," he ordered, waiting for the crowd to file out. "It won't take long!" he assured them loudly.

"Well, what is it then?" Draco asked softly once his friends had left. "I thought you wanted nothing to do with me."

Ginny nodded. "Yes, it's true. I want absolutely nothing to do with you." She stopped, seeing the obvious pain in Draco's face. "But I have a note. I think you should read it."

"And what, face more rejection? No thank you," he spat.

"Please," she pleaded, her green eyes brimming with tears. "Please, just read it, and you'll understand." Seeing his hesitation she added, "Do this for me. Please."

Malfoy nodded, obviously trying to keep his dignity. "Bye," she said softly as he sauntered away.

Ron watched Harry's scruffy black hair as a chunk of it flopped into his face for the hundredth time in the hour. Why hadn't he realized Harry was so cute sometime when they were--say-- speaking to each other? Life was insanely unfair.

Professor Snaps was sitting at the blackboard, writing various notes with her mind, such as, "My name is Professor Ginger Snaps," "This class is meant to teach you defense only," and "Hey you in the fourth row, stop talking, this is a classroom!" Although seeing people get yelled at could be kind of amusing for everyone else, Ron was worried about Professor Snaps pulling another Umbridge on them. No magic allowed? Please.

Just then, he heard her gruff, grainy voice say, "You are dismissed." Ron jumped up but got caught in the crowd. Harry was long gone by the time Ron reached the bustling hallway. It wasn't as if he could enjoy it right now anyway.

Following his intuition, Ron hoped that Harry had gone to their dorms to be by himself. Ron tracked his way to their room, hopeful that his best friend was picking up books for his next class. Swinging open the door, he found everything according to plan. Harry sat on his bed, a spellbook open in his lap. When Ron entered the room, his eyes lit up, then darkened as tension took its toll. "What are you doing here?" Harry asked finally.

"I needed to talk to you," Ron responded quickly. "Look--"

"No, you look! You can't jump over my feelings like you did, like they don't matter!" Harry shouted. "Jesus, Ron, I didn't know you were so bloody insensitive!"

Ron cursed mentally. Here he was, trying to kiss and make up, and Harry was jumping down his throat. "Like you're doing now?" he blurted out, but immediately regretted it. "Forget I said that, just-- let's just-- forget this whole thing. I'm sorry I pushed you around, Harry, I really am," he finished sincerely.

Harry smiled. "I believe you," he whispered. "I'm sorry too. I'm not ready to tell people yet, but... I will be. You don't have to worry about that." He laughed to himself. "We're so stupid! Why do we do this to ourselves?"

"The things we do for love," Ron said quietly.

His best friend's yellow-green eyes shone up at him. "Is that what this is?" he asked. "Is this love?" His eyes reached out at Ron's, desperately needing an answer.

"I dunno," Ron responded, not losing eye contact. "I think about you all the time," he admitted, stepping closer to Harry's bed.

"Me too," the other boy said as he got up and stepped nearer to Ron. "In a good way. In a great way actually."

Ron touched Harry's smooth face. The shiver it sent down both of their spines was enough of an answer for both of them. Urgently they kissed, both boy moving toward the other and meeting in the middle. Ron was so happy. To finally have his fingers in that hair, to touch the face he'd dreamt about all summer, and to have Harry kiss him back... It was more than he could ask for.

Harry pulled away slowly and reluctantly. "Is it okay if I lock the door?" he asked breathlessly.

Ron nodded. After all, if he'd had a girl in here, he definitely would have locked the door.

Again their lips met. Harry led Ron to his bed. They both sat on the edge and leaned onto their sides, still kissing. Ron opened his eyes and looked at Harry closely before pulling away.

"In one hundred years, would you ever have imagined us doing this?" Ron whispered, laughing.

Harry tucked one of Ron's stray curls away from his face, causing him to shiver. "I actually dreamed it," he said meaningfully.

"Seriously?"

"Hell yes!" Harry laughed. "It was a really good dream." Both of them grinned.

Ron moved in. "Did I kiss you like this?" he asked, kissing him sweetly.

"No, no, no," Harry said slowly. "You kissed me more like this." He grabbed Ron's face between his hands and kissed him passionately.

A loud rapping shocked them both. "Uh... who is it?" Harry asked.

"Neville and Seamus," the muffled voice behind the door said.

Embarrassed, Harry and Ron straightened up and opened the door for their friends. "Hey Harry, Ron," Seamus said as he entered and started digging through his bag. Seamus was infamous for never unpacking his bag all year. Neville, on the other hand, just waited, as all of his things were unpacked, if not a bit unorganized.

"Hey guys," Ron acknowledged glumly.

Seamus grabbed three books and sat on a chair in front of Harry and Ron. "Oh, and I was wondering if you could encourage your friend Hermione to stop being so cold to me. I mean, we had a lot of fun together. A lot," he added with a raise of his eyebrows. "She's really quite sexy. I guess I never noticed before."

Harry smiled. "You and half of Hogwarts," he laughed. "Sure I'll tell her." If only Harry could feel the same way about girls... But then, if that were true he couldn't have Ron, so he supposed he was better off without.

"Well, see ya," Seamus said as he walked away.

"Yeah, I'll talk to you later!" Neville added and then jogged to catch up.